Reimagining Cadillac’s user experience

Initial phases focused on a greenfield approach that allowed us to explore what the future of digital experience looked like. With product cycles that can reach a decade, it was critical to create something that felt not just timeless and relevant but thoroughly modern ten years into the future. That meant the team needed to take a deep dive across adjacent verticals, geos and cultures to get a full picture of what the future of experience could look and feel like. We future-casted design themes, took a deep dive into coming technology and then looked back at the qualities of timeless design that had remained relevant for decades.  

Design came together with research to identify key opportunities in the marketplace and outside of it. What design themes and functionality would be expected in 3-5-7 years? What interaction patterns would hold true? And how could we imbue the Cadillac brand in an experience without jeopardizing usability and simplicity? 

Designing for luxury a million pixels at a time 

As a luxury brand looking to the future, it was essential that every physical or digital touchpoint of the Cadillac LYRIQ did not just reflect but actually redefine what a luxury experience is. Our team set out to create an experience that sweated every pixel, interaction and design element in an effort to deliver a truly compelling experience. 

We collaborated with Cadillac’s design studio to reflect and amplify the LYRIQ’s inspiring and luxurious interior often becoming an extension of the industrial design that was being formed by hand in the studio. The result was a visual language of subtle tension, simplicity and moments of data-driven beauty.  

Using 3D design with ssubtly and sophistication 

The opportunity was big. 33-inch of advanced LED big. But successful digital experience is all in the details. To that end one key design choice we made was to make use of the Z-Axis. It allowed us the ability to create depth and dimension in even the most subtle moments of the experience. With advanced screen technology and huge processing power onboard, we created a design language full of subtle animations and dimensional transitions that complimented the luxurious and sophisticated interior design. The result is a 3-dimensional feel that is entirely unique and points to the future of experiences everywhere.  

Through it all, we had to reflect the future of the brand and its vision of luxury. That vision began as a sketch, but quickly evolved into a shared language developed together with Cadillac. 

Organizational change  

Creating an in-car experience so wildly different than what Cadillac had ever attempted required not just new thinking but a new approach to design, new software and new skills and a reinvented process. And above all else it had to scale. We helped solve this by re-thinking not just the work but the process and team that got them there.  

We helped define new sprint-based processes leveraging new tools and new skill sets that the opportunity called for. We then worked with GM to define team structure that could take advantage of this new, more modern approach to design. Finally, we created a design system that would bring scale and consistency to the production process allowing for faster times from idea to design to production.